I thought so to at first, but it's not sustainable. No one wants to see a perpetually bad team that doesn't even bother to hide the fact the only reason the owner is in the game is to make money.

All the clubs are making money hand over fist. The vast majority of ownerships are in it for the money. The astros didnt hide their profits well and probably got too greedy. To do it right they should have put a little more in payroll and cry the poor mouth routine. Talk about about the fans having to come to park so they can put more in payroll. Throw out whatever smoke screens you can to cover up the profits coming in and the worth of a franchise increasing year after year. Most people are naive and believe the poor mouth jive.

How much more could they really do? They only teams that draw less than the Astros are the pair from Baseball Hell (Florida).

Right now, people are still watching the games and buying merchandise (I assume, if they're pulling in a $100m profit, that money has to be coming from somewhere). If the team continues to sacrifice success for profit, fans will stop buying merchandise, they'll stop watching the games at all, and the team will lose sponsors. It won't be quick, but that profit will evaporate.

Also, I fully expect the fans in Houston to revolt if a good portion of that profit isn't spent on improving the team.

Most of the profits are coming from that cable deal they signed in the offseason - ironically the channel that still can't be watched by over half of Houston's cable/sat subscribers.

They've invested tons into the draft, international players (they had the highest budget of all teams in both drafts) prospect trades and player development this year. Plus all but one of their minor league affiliates will be in the minor league playoffs.

But yes, they need spend a little in FA, three #1 picks three years straight are enough.

I'd say they need to ditch Carter and Wallace and bring in two decent middle of the order bats this offseason, not to mention get something remotely decent in the bullpen. Not saying they'll be good but 85-95 losses are better that what they're doing now.

Most of the profits are coming from that cable deal they signed in the offseason - ironically the channel that still can't be watched by over half of Houston's cable/sat subscribers.

They've invested tons into the draft, international players (they had the highest budget of all teams in both drafts) prospect trades and player development this year. Plus all but one of their minor league affiliates will be in the minor league playoffs.

But yes, they need spend a little in FA, three #1 picks three years straight are enough.

I'd say they need to ditch Carter and Wallace and bring in two decent middle of the order bats this offseason, not to mention get something remotely decent in the bullpen. Not saying they'll be good but 85-95 losses are better that what they're doing now.

Agreed. I don't think this is a Loria/Marlins situation. Let's see where the Astros are in a couple of years.

I'm not advocating a total rebuild for the Sox, but it wouldn't shock me if the Astros are back in the playoffs before the Sox are.

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WSI Sox Slow Start Excuse-O-Meter- Poor play in spring training doesn't matter (2005!)- It's still April- It's early May- Wait until Memorial Day before worrying about anything- Wait until the weather gets warmer- '83 Sox! '05 Astros!- Still time to turn things around in 2nd half
- In Aug/Sept: Too late to complain about poor performance earlier this season.Special mention: - Blame Sox fans for not showing up to games as soon as the team has one winning streak.

Right now, people are still watching the games and buying merchandise (I assume, if they're pulling in a $100m profit, that money has to be coming from somewhere). If the team continues to sacrifice success for profit, fans will stop buying merchandise, they'll stop watching the games at all, and the team will lose sponsors. It won't be quick, but that profit will evaporate.

No way! Those Jose Altuve jerseys will keep flying off the racks!

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Ridiculousness across all sports:

(1) "You have no valid opinion because you never played the game."
(2) "Stats are irrelevant. This guy just doesn't know how to win."

Right now, people are still watching the games and buying merchandise (I assume, if they're pulling in a $100m profit, that money has to be coming from somewhere). If the team continues to sacrifice success for profit, fans will stop buying merchandise, they'll stop watching the games at all, and the team will lose sponsors. It won't be quick, but that profit will evaporate.

Maybe they won't be the most profitable team ever, but they will still turn a healthy profit, remember the Pirates were having no trouble making ends meet despite 20 or so consecutive losing seasons. Anybody who thinks any pro sports team in America isn't doing AMAZING in the money department is seriously na´ve.

Right now, people are still watching the games and buying merchandise (I assume, if they're pulling in a $100m profit, that money has to be coming from somewhere). If the team continues to sacrifice success for profit, fans will stop buying merchandise, they'll stop watching the games at all, and the team will lose sponsors. It won't be quick, but that profit will evaporate.

If I'm not mistaken, MLB merchandise sales are shared evenly between all the teams in the league.